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Bobby Lashley
In mid-2005, Lashley appeared at four live events, wrestling in dark matches for both the Raw and SmackDown! brands. On September 23, 2005, he made his televised WWE debut as a face on SmackDown!. He was introduced as a three-time National Amateur Wrestling Champion, a four-time All-American, a two-time Armed Forces Champion, and a 2002 Silver Medalist at the Military World Championship. In his first match, he defeated Simon Dean. In his pay-per-view debut at No Mercy, he defeated Dean once again. Lashley went on to defeat numerous superstars both on SmackDown! and Raw. On the November 11 episode of SmackDown!, Lashley defeated Orlando Jordan in a qualifying match for a place on Team SmackDown! at Survivor Series, where he was the first to be eliminated. Prior to this elimination, Lashley was dominating the Raw Superstars, showcasing various "power moves" and a finisher on Carlito. Yet a chokeslam from Kane, who was on the apron, caused Lashley to be eliminated. On January 6, 2006, Lashley became the first SmackDown! wrestler to qualify for that year's Royal Rumble. At the Royal Rumble, Lashley was the eighth wrestler to enter the match, in which he eliminated Sylvain, but he was then eliminated by the combination of Raw's then World Tag Team Champions Big Show and Kane. Following the Royal Rumble, Lashley began a feud with John Bradshaw Layfield, leading up to a match at No Way Out, where Lashley suffered his first loss in singles competition, largely due to interference from Finlay. This prompted a feud between Lashley and Finlay, which lasted throughout February and March, and it notably included a lumberjack match, which Finlay won after using a shillelagh. On April 2, after winning a battle royal by lastly eliminating MNM, Lashley competed at his first WrestleMania (WrestleMania 22) in the Money in the Bank ladder match – which was won by Rob Van Dam. Lashley next entered SmackDown!'s King of the Ring tournament. He made it to the finals, defeating Mark Henry and Finlay in the process. However, in the final round – held at Judgment Day – he was defeated by Booker T with help from Finlay. As Booker was being crowned during his coronation, Lashley speared him. These acts developed into a feud with the newly named "King Booker" and the other members of his court (Queen Sharmell, Finlay, and William Regal). During this feud, Lashley won his first professional wrestling championship by defeating JBL for the United States Championship, which he lost to Finlay a little less than two months later. Lashley later joined forces with Batista against the Court. Shortly after losing the United States Title, a physician declared Lashley unable to compete, stating that during an annual exam, Lashley was found to have elevated enzymes of the liver and therefore, would not be cleared to wrestle until further evaluation. Lashley returned a couple of weeks later to the SmackDown! roster to continue his feud with the Court and went on to earn his first match for the World Heavyweight Championship at No Mercy against King Booker. The bout was subsequently turned into a four-way bout, also including Batista and Booker's ally, Finlay. King Booker won the match after pinning Finlay. On November 14, 2006, Lashley moved to the ECW brand. He debuted on the brand by making a surprise appearance to sign a contract for the final spot in the Extreme Elimination Chamber match for the ECW World Championship at December to Dismember. At December to Dismember, Lashley was the fifth person released into the match. He eliminated both Test and The Big Show by pinfall after a spear to become the new ECW World Champion, thus making him the first African American in ECW history to win the title. After winning the ECW World Championship, Lashley then had successful title defenses against Big Show, Rob Van Dam, Test, Hardcore Holly, Kenny Dykstra, and Mr. Kennedy. On March 19, 2007, episode of Raw, Lashley officially became the first and only person to ever break Chris Masters' Masterlock hold (Swinging full nelson) and thus the first and only person to ever defeat the Masterlock Challenge. In early 2007, Lashley was selected by Donald Trump to represent him in a "Battle of the Billionaires" match, against Vince McMahon's representative, Umaga, which also featured Vince's long time adversary Stone Cold Steve Austin as the guest referee. At WrestleMania 23 in a Hair vs. Hair match, Lashley defeated Umaga following a spear and helped Trump and Austin shave McMahon's head afterwards in accordance with the match's losing stipulation, saving Donald Trump's hair from being shaved off. After WrestleMania, Lashley feuded with Mr. McMahon. McMahon booked himself, his son Shane McMahon, and Umaga in a 3-on-1 handicap match against Lashley at Backlash for the ECW World Championship. After two high impact diving splashes from Umaga, Mr. McMahon tagged himself into the match and pinned Lashley to win the title. Lashley legitimately injured his shoulder during the match and after an examination days later, it was revealed he had a damaged rotator cuff but would not need surgery at the time. At Judgment Day, Lashley defeated Vince, Shane, and Umaga in a 3-on-1 handicap rematch after hitting the Dominator on Shane McMahon. Lashley did not win the ECW World Championship, however, because he did not pin Mr. McMahon. As a result, Mr. McMahon retained the title. On June 3 at One Night Stand, Lashley defeated Vince McMahon in a street fight to win the ECW World Championship for a second reign despite interference by Shane McMahon and Umaga in the match, making Lashley the first man to win the ECW World Championship twice since WWE reactivated the title. On the June 11 episode of Raw, Lashley was drafted from the ECW brand to the Raw brand as part of the 2007 WWE draft. As a result of the move, Lashley was stripped of the ECW World Championship by Vince McMahon. He took place in a challenge match against Mick Foley, Randy Orton, King Booker and John Cena for the WWE Championship at Vengeance: Night of Champions which Cena won to retain the WWE Championship. Lashley became the number one contender for the WWE Championship by winning the "Beat the Clock" challenge on July 2 episode of Raw. On July 22 at The Great American Bash, he lost to Cena and after the match, they shook hands as a sign of respect. On July 30 episode of Raw, Lashley was defeated by Mr. Kennedy. During the match, Lashley was "injured" after Mr. Kennedy kicked Lashley's shoulder into the ring steps, allowing Lashley to have time off for surgery for the legitimate injury he suffered at The Great American Bash. After a six-month hiatus, WWE announced that Lashley was released from his WWE contract on February 4, 2008. On the April 9, 2018 episode of Raw, the night after WrestleMania 34, Lashley made his return to WWE, where he confronted and attacked Elias. The first month of Lashley's return would see him in a number of tag-team matches, teaming with the likes of Braun Strowman, Bobby Roode, Finn Bálor, Seth Rollins, and Roman Reigns, all being in victorious efforts against the likes of Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, Jinder Mahal, The Miz, Curtis Axel, and Bo Dallas. Lashley would later team with Braun Strowman at Backlash in a victorious effort against Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn. Following Backlash, Lashley would enter into a short feud with Sami Zayn, culminating with Lashley facing Zayn in a victorious effort at Money in the Bank. Lashley would then enter a feud with Roman Reigns. What started off as a war of words on the June 18 episode of Raw would quickly escalate into an all-out brawl on the July 9 episode of Raw, with the entire locker room having to separate the duo. The rivalry centered around the fact that, before Lashley's departure from WWE in 2008, he was the handpicked face to lead the future of WWE and even went on to compete in one of the marquee matches WrestleMania 23. This led to a match between the two at Extreme Rules, where Lashley defeated Reigns. The following night on Raw, Lashley defeated Elias and Seth Rollins one of two triple threat matches to determine who would face Universal Champion Brock Lesnar at SummerSlam. On the July 23 episode of Raw, he was defeated by Reigns, who won the other triple threat match. On the July 30 episode of Raw, he would enter a feud with Elias after he attacked Lashley during their duet only for Lashley to fight him off. A match between the two would be teased over the next several months, but at SummerSlam their feud ended abruptly without any aforementioned payoff. On the September 3 episode of Raw, during his segment with Jinder Mahal, the returning Kevin Owens attacked Lashley from behind. On the September 17 episode of Raw, he introduced his new manager Lio Rush. On the October 8 episode of Raw, Lashley defeated Owens in a singles match before attacking him post-match, turning Lashley into a heel for the first time in his WWE career. However, Owens would be sidelined with an injury shortly after ending that feud. At Survivor Series, which Team Raw won, Lashley was among the sole survivors along with Braun Strowman and Drew McIntyre after Strowman pinned Team SmackDown member Shane McMahon. Afterwards, he reignited his feud with Elias, this included a ladder match with a guitar hanging above the ring at TLC which Lashley lost, but after the match used the guitar on Elias. This sparked a Miracle on the 34th Street Fight type of match between the two in which Lashley was defeated. On the January 7, 2019 episode of Raw, Lashley began the show by brawling with Seth Rollins, before reappearing at the end of the night to cost Rollins his Intercontinental Championship match against Dean Ambrose. After the match, Lashley slammed Rollins through a table. The following week on Raw, Lashley won the Intercontinental Championship for the first time in his career, from Ambrose in a triple threat match that also involved Rollins, establishing his first title reign in WWE since June 2007. On January 27 at the Royal Rumble, Lashley entered the Rumble match as the 26th entrant, but was eliminated in thirteen seconds by Rollins, after which Lashley viciously attacked Rollins, and subsequently slammed him through the announce table. At Elimination Chamber, he lost the Intercontinental Championship to Finn Bálor in a 2-on-1 handicap match also involving Lio Rush after Rush was pinned, ending his reign at 34 days. After the match, Lashley attacked Rush in frustration. Lashley teamed with Baron Corbin and Drew McIntyre against a recently reunited Shield in a losing effort at Fastlane. The following night on Raw, Lashley defeated Bálor, following interference from Rush, to capture the Intercontinental Championship, thus beginning his second reign. On the March 25 edition of Raw, Lashley teamed with Jinder Mahal to face Finn Bálor in a 2-on-1 handicap match. Bálor won the match, pinning Mahal, and as per the match stipulation, earned himself an Intercontinental championship rematch against Lashley for WrestleMania 35, which resulted in Lashley losing the title to Bàlor. At The Shield's Final Chapter, Lashley once again teamed with Corbin and McIntyre to face The Shield in a losing effort. On May 18th, 2019 Lashley was announced to face Braun Strowman at Super ShowDown. At the event, Lashley faced Strowman in a losing effort. On the July 1st episode of Raw, Lashley and Strowman had a Falls Count Anywhere Match that ended in a no contest when Strowman tackled Lashley through the LED board. Following this, the two were scheduled for a Last Man Standing Match at Extreme Rules, which Lashley lost. After a two month hiatus, Lashley returned on the September 30 episode of Raw, by interrupting a match between Rusev and Seth Rollins, and subsequently forming a relationship with Rusev's wife Lana, making out with her in front of a dismayed Rusev. Eventually, at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs, he defeated Rusev in a tables match after a distraction from Lana.Category:Raw Superstars Category:ECW Champions Category:Intercontinental Champions Category:WWE United States Champions